Thomas Markle Sr says he has paid for sex but denies child abuse allegations

Read the original at Evening Standard ↗
Cite

Besley, J. (2026, October 25). Thomas Markle Sr says he has paid for sex but denies child abuse allegations. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/philippines-duchess-sussex-samantha-markle-metropolitan-police-b1302246.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-10-25 · by John Besley
Content note This article describes abuse of a child.

Quick Summary

Thomas Markle Sr, father of Meghan Markle, has denied child abuse allegations by his son Thomas Jr, who reported finding suspicious images at their father’s home in the Philippines. In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Markle Sr admitted to paying for sex with prostitutes during trips to the Philippines but insisted he never engaged in underage sexual activities. He also offered access to forensic examination of his computer and stated that he would cooperate fully with any investigation.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-25, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Thomas Markle Sr., the father of Meghan Markle, is under investigation in the Philippines for alleged possession of child sexual abuse material. His half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., claims to have discovered a collection of such images at their father's home in Cebu City. Despite these allegations, Thomas Markle Sr. denies any wrongdoing and has stated that he would welcome forensic examination of his computer if there is anything incriminating found.

In response to the allegations, Meghan Markle released statements expressing her distress and confirming she had been aware of troubling allegations against her father since 2018 when a letter containing these allegations was sent to London police. The Duchess also revealed that in December 2025, she wrote a final letter to Thomas Sr., informing him that authorities were investigating his alleged wrongdoings and declaring it would be the last time he heard from her.

Meghan has been estranged from her father since 2018 when he pulled out of her royal wedding citing ill health. She told her father in the 2025 letter that he would never meet his grandchildren, Archie and Lillibet. The investigation into Thomas Markle Sr.'s alleged possession of child pornography is ongoing in both the Philippines and potentially in the United States. Despite these serious allegations, Thomas Markle Sr. maintains his innocence and accuses those making the claims against him of wanting revenge or distortion. He also stated that he has never had sexual relations with anyone under 18 but admits to having paid for sex with adult women during trips to the Philippines. His current health status limits his ability to travel as he is learning to walk again after undergoing leg amputation surgery in 2025.

Written for “Meghan Markle's Father Child Porn Investigation” on 2026-10-25, grounded in this article and the 48 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 105044 · logged 2026-10-25

Story

📰 Meghan Markle's Father Child Porn Investigation
Entertainment · 49 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 27% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail · 0.90 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 12% hedged 10 of 82 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles discuss the same incident involving Thomas Markle Sr being investigated for child abuse images found at his home in the Philippines by his son, Thomas Markle Jr.”
Evening Standard · 0.88 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 34% hedged 10 of 29 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles refer to the same investigation into child abuse allegations against Thomas Markle Sr in the Philippines.”
New York Post · 0.88 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 43% hedged 3 of 7 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A reports on the discovery and investigation of child pornography at Thomas Markle Sr.'s home, while Article B focuses on Thomas Markle Sr.'s denial of the allegations. They describe related but distinct events.”
Daily Mail · 0.86 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 15% hedged 6 of 40 📰 publisher trust 64
“While both articles discuss Thomas Markle facing child abuse image allegations, they describe different aspects and timelines of the investigation and his denial of the accusations.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 25% hedged 3 of 12 📰 publisher trust 66
“While both articles discuss Thomas Markle Sr. and allegations involving child pornography in the Philippines, they describe different aspects or stages of the incident rather than a single specific occurrence.”
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 27% hedged 6 of 22 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles describe different aspects and responses to the allegations against Thomas Markle Sr, with Article A focusing on Meghan's reaction and Article B primarily covering Markle Sr's denial of the accusations.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 15% hedged 11 of 72 📰 publisher trust 64
“While both articles discuss similar allegations against Thomas Markle Sr, they describe different aspects and sources of information about the ongoing investigation.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 21% hedged 8 of 39 📰 publisher trust 65
“While both articles discuss Thomas Markle Sr and allegations involving child abuse images, they describe different stages or aspects of an ongoing investigation rather than a single specific incident.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 54% hedged 7 of 13 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles report on the same interview where Thomas Markle Sr. denies child sex abuse allegations and admits to paying for sex with prostitutes.”
New York Post · 0.86 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 32% hedged 6 of 19 📰 publisher trust 66
“The articles cover different aspects of a broader situation, rather than the same specific incident. One focuses on Samantha Markle defending her father and accusing Thomas Jr., while the other is an interview with Thomas Sr. denying the allegations.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
33
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
27%
9 of 33 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
65/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
49
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-25 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 6912 article(s) · 56 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 56 correction(s)

Who wrote this

John Besley
6 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 I am not well enough to go to the Philippines but I will speak to anyone who wants to talk to me.
🔮 Lloyd Kembrey, a facilities manager at the University of Bristol, took on the challenges to fundraise for children’s hospice charity Jessie May.
🔮 Lloyd Kembrey, a facilities manager at the University of Bristol, took on the challenges to fundraise for children’s hospice charity Jessie May.
🔮 In an interview with the BBC, set to be aired on Sunday evening, the earl described the press’s coverage of Harry and Meghan as having a “cancerous influence”, adding it would be “beholden on people to learn from Diana’s example”.
🔮 “To get embroiled in further conflict would only do damage,” he said.
🔮 “I literally spoke to her six days before she died, because she asked me to do a charity gig for her because she couldn’t make it, and I said, ‘Yeah, that’s absolutely fine’,” he told the paper.
Also by John Besley
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 6 articles by John Besley →

Topics

FBI Met Police Philippines The Sun the Mail on Sunday

Subjects

Meghan PERSON · 5× Philippines GPE · 4× Thomas Markle Sr PERSON · 3× the Duchess of Sussex PERSON · 3× MPS ORG · 2× Markle PERSON · 2× Met Police ORG · 2× The Sun ORG · 2× the Mail on Sunday ORG · 2× Thomas Markle Jr PERSON · 1×

Narrative

A spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex said if police had a time-stamped record confirming the letter was reviewed in 2019, then that “should be treated as the accurate reference point for when it was received and shared with the Duchess”.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-25
🔮 I am not well enough to go to the Philippines but I will speak to anyone who wants to talk to me.

Claims (33 extracted, 9 hedged)

According to The Sun, Meghan’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr, alleged that he found a stash of images belonging to their father at his former home in the Philippines. uncertain
he → accord → Philippines
He reportedly told police in the country that he discovered the child abuse pictures and videos mixed up with innocent family mementos. uncertain
he → tell → mementos
The newspaper said he also contacted FBI investigators in the US in July. asserted
he → say → July
Authorities in the Philippines said they are investigating the allegations. asserted
they → say → allegations
In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Thomas Markle Sr said he has “never had sex with anyone under the age of 18”. asserted
he → say → 18
He told the paper that when he was single he travelled to the Philippines at least twice and “slept with prostitutes”. asserted
he → tell → prostitutes
“I like Asian women but that is not a crime,” he said. “ asserted
he → like → women
I am not well enough to go to the Philippines but I will speak to anyone who wants to talk to me. asserted
who → go → me
I have nothing to hide.” asserted
I → have → nothing
Mr Markle is learning to walk again at a nursing facility in Florida after he had his leg amputated during life-saving surgery in 2025. asserted
leg → learn → 2025
He said he would also welcome any forensic examination of his computer, telling the Mail on Sunday: “If there is anything bad on there it was put there by someone else.” asserted
it → say → someone
It comes after the Metropolitan Police on Saturday confirmed it passed a letter featuring claims of alleged offending outside the UK by Thomas Markle Sr to Meghan and the Duke of Sussex but did not share details with other law enforcement agencies. uncertain
it → come → agencies
The force said it received a letter in 2019 about a “number of claims” relating to Mr Markle, adding it was “reviewing the handling of this matter” including whether the force needs to be referred to the police watchdog. uncertain
force → say → watchdog
On Friday, Meghan said she was made aware of “disturbing allegations” about her father in 2018. asserted
she → say → 2018
She said she was shown a letter sent to Scotland Yard eight years ago making “troubling” allegations against Thomas Markle Sr and she was assured that these were being investigated. asserted
these → say → Sr
A spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex said if police had a time-stamped record confirming the letter was reviewed in 2019, then that “should be treated as the accurate reference point for when it was received and shared with the Duchess”. asserted
it → say → Duchess
They said on Saturday afternoon that it was “understandable” because of the passage of time that Meghan “may have been mistaken by a few months”. uncertain
Meghan → say → months
A Met Police spokesperson said on Saturday afternoon: “Following a thorough review of Met Police systems and records, we have confirmed that in January 2019, we received a letter containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom. “ uncertain
we → say → Kingdom
It was sent to the MPS Protection Command to raise concerns in relation to the security of the Duchess of Sussex. asserted
It → send → Sussex
“The letter was reviewed and a decision was made that it should be passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. asserted
it → review → awareness
“The details of the allegations in the letter were not shared with other law enforcement agencies. asserted
details → share → agencies
“The MPS is reviewing the handling of this matter in 2019 and considering whether a referral to the IOPC is necessary to review our approach.” asserted
referral → review → approach
A spokesperson for the Duchess of Sussex said: “In recalling events from more than seven years ago, without the benefit of a diary entry or contemporaneous record, it is understandable that she may have been mistaken by a few months. “ uncertain
she → say → months
If the MPS holds a time-stamped record confirming that the letter was reviewed in 2019, that should be treated as the accurate reference point for when it was received and shared with the duchess. asserted
it → hold → duchess
“I think it is reasonable to recognise that she is doing her best to recall the precise timing of events that were not diarised at the time, and that any discrepancy of a few months is an understandable consequence of that passage of time.” asserted
discrepancy → think → time
The Telegraph reported the duchess is “upset and frustrated” over the Met’s failure to act. asserted
duchess → report → failure
According to The Sun, Meghan sent a letter to her father last year which reportedly said she knew of the accusations against him and that she would never allow him to meet his grandchildren. uncertain
him → accord → grandchildren
Meghan became estranged from her former TV lighting director father in the run-up to her 2018 royal wedding after he was caught staging paparazzi photographs. asserted
he → become → photographs
Mr Markle did not attend the wedding, leaving the King to accompany Meghan down the aisle and meaning the only member of her family present was her mother, Doria Ragland. asserted
member → attend → family
Meghan was the only child of Mr Markle’s marriage to Ms Ragland, though he has two children, Samantha and Thomas Jr, from an earlier marriage. asserted
he → have → marriage
In 2021, Meghan won a High Court privacy and copyright claim against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over articles that reproduced parts of a “personal and private” handwritten letter she wrote to Mr Markle in a bid to get him to stop talking to the press. uncertain
him → win → press
She wrote the emotional five-page letter to him in August 2018 after taking advice from two unnamed senior royals. asserted
She → write → royals
In 2025, Mr Markle moved to the Philippines for a new life after suffering a series of strokes. asserted
Markle → move → strokes
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